The Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) is a preventive detention law under which a person can be taken into custody without a formal charge and without trial to prevent him from acting in any manner that is “prejudicial to the security of the state or the maintenance of public order”. It is very similar to the National Security Act that is used by other state governments for preventive detention.
As per Section 13, detainees are required to be informed of the grounds of detention no later than 10 days after the detention. The detainee is afforded the opportunity of making a representation to the administration challenging the order. The administration is required to make a decision on the representation within 21 days.
Detainees usually move the High Court on the ground that their representation to the administration has not been considered in time. This effectively means they must wait a while before moving the courts for relief.
In every case where a detention order has been passed, the administration shall, within four weeks, place the details before an Advisory Board, which is required to submit a report within six weeks. Based on this report, the detention either continues or is recommended to be scrapped.
The PSA comes into force by an administrative order passed by the District Magistrate (DM). The DM is mandated under law to apply his mind before ordering the preventive detention of persons under the Act.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has quashed many detention orders on the ground of non-application of mind and improper justification. Most recently, an order was quashed by the High Court and a penalty of ₹10,000 was imposed on the DM for unjustified detention of a man under the PSA.
Source: Barandbench
